Surveys of pediatricians show that a great majority believe educating families about safe firearm storage is a natural extension of health care, yet less than half actually do it. Why not? Because it takes extra time, materials and provider training. Many also worry about a political confrontation in the exam room.
But firearms are the leading cause of death for children in this country, and safe storage saves lives. Studies show, and my experience confirms, that families are more than receptive to this kind of intervention. We need to pour every available resource into encouraging safe firearm storage.
Recently, I asked a mother whether there were guns in her home. Her response was familiar: “I wish I didn’t need one,” she said. “But Dr. Novick, you can’t imagine.” She went on to explain that the only way to keep her children safe was to have a loaded firearm beneath her mattress. For many families in my care, the fear is of community gun violence and break-ins. For her, it was of an abusive ex-partner.
I did my best to help balance her palpable fear against the dangers of the loaded firearm, expressing my concerns that firearms often escalate threatening situations and that her children could easily discover it. As we spoke, it became clear that she shared my worry about how curious children can be, but removing the firearm was not an option. So I turned to the next-best solution: I offered her a gun cable lock from my practice’s supply down the hall. She said thank you, then asked if I might spare a few extras for her friends and family.
These conversations are about safety, not politics. Instead of focusing on what might divide us, they center on the value we share with parents more than any other: the well-being of their children. Most parents understand this. In fact, many say they keep guns loaded and easily accessible because they want to make their homes safer.
The reality is the opposite. Last month in Ohio, a 2-year-old boy shot and killed his pregnant mother. When authorities entered the home, they found child safety gates installed in the doorways and locks on all the drawers, yet they also found the loaded pistol the boy had discovered in his parents’ nightstand, as well as a loaded shotgun in one closet and a rifle in another. If every American family treated deadly weapons the same way as other household hazards by securing them, this boy might still have a mother.
Similar horror stories are all too familiar. Of the 2,590 U.S. children killed by gunfire in 2021, almost 40 percent died from suicide and unintentional shootings. Most of the time, such incidents involve a family member’s accessible gun. When children find guns inside homes, as the news from Ohio tragically illustrates, those as young as 2 are strong enough to pull the trigger. And when teens experience suicidal thoughts, the presence of a firearm in that heightened emotional moment can be the difference between life and death. Nine out of 10 die before they can reconsider.
Gun locks and safes are not generally listed as recommended childproofing items on popular parenting websites. They aren’t given out at baby showers along with outlet plugs and yellow rubber bath toys that turn red if the water’s too hot. But given that about 40 percent of adults with children in this country live in households with firearms, perhaps the time has come that they should be. Less than half of firearms owners practice safe storage. If gun ownership is normal in this country, gun safety needs to be normal as well.
Pediatricians routinely ask about car seats, bike helmets and smoke detectors. Why not do the same with firearms? Studies show we have the greatest impact when we also distribute locking devices at the point of care. This is why at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, we now stock gun cable locks alongside the baby thermometers and breastfeeding devices we can offer families in our emergency department and several primary-care practices. We are actively expanding this program across our institution, and similar efforts are burgeoning nationwide.
Evidence shows it works. Counseling coupled with locking device distribution increases safe firearm storage, which is well-proven to reduce youth suicide and unintentional shootings. Even modest increases in safe storage can lead to a 32 percent decrease in child firearm fatalities, and the most stringent Child Access Prevention laws reduce these fatalities by as much as 54 percent.
On average a child shoots himself or someone else every day in this country, and a young person dies by suicide every 2 hours and 11 minutes. We can’t bring the 2-year-old’s mother back or give him his baby brother. But we can prevent the next tragedy by normalizing this conversation so that every firearm, in every household across America, is stored under lock and key.
About the author: Dorothy R. Novick is a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a scholar with CHOP’s Center for Violence Prevention.
